Jimmy Fallon Might Be Laughing a Little Less Than Usual

As a seasoned reviewer with over two decades of late-night television under my belt, I can’t help but feel a pang of nostalgia as I hear about Jimmy Fallon‘s Tonight Show scaling back to four nights a week. The golden era of five-night-a-week comedy seems to be fading away like a distant memory, replaced by the cold, hard reality of budget cuts and shrinking audiences.


Based on reports from USA Today and Deadline, The Tonight Show with host Jimmy Fallon is reducing its weekly episodes from five to four for the upcoming fall season. This means there will be fewer opportunities for laughs as the show will only air new episodes Monday through Thursday. Repeats are expected to air on Fridays, similar to how they’ve been broadcast during the summer off-season. NBC has confirmed the change to a four-night schedule but hasn’t provided additional details. The decision was reportedly communicated to the Tonight Show team on September 5.

It seems like the change in my show’s schedule is due to some necessary budget adjustments, as it appears that late-night TV viewership has been dwindling, with viral videos on platforms like YouTube and TikTok not quite covering all our expenses. In line with this trend, I’m joining other prominent shows such as Stephen Colbert’s Late Show, Jimmy Kimmel Live, Seth Meyers’ Late Night, and The Daily Show, which already air four original episodes a week. However, despite these cost-cutting measures, networks are not abandoning late-night TV altogether! In fact, NBC has signed contracts with both myself and Seth to keep us hosting until 2028. It looks like Meyers’ in-house band is no longer part of the lineup, a move likely driven by financial considerations. Hopefully, we won’t reach a point where I’ll have to host a two-night show, right?

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2024-09-07 04:53